And here I am!

The plane ride was long, but fine, and as we descended to land in Santiago (just as the sun was rising) the mountains peeked out through the sea of clouds

Once at the airport I met my group (who, by the way, are totally awesome!) (three not pictured, two were stuck in Miami due to a hurricane but they're here now)

No mountains for us yet though... we drove to Agarrobo (a town on the Chilean coast) to do orientation.  Once there I quickly found myself with five (of fourteen) in the parking lot throwing a frisbee.  Someone asked, "what happens if we throw it on the roof" and, after knowing each other for less than a couple hours, Cara says, "oh, Lauren will probably climb up and get it."  Taken aback I ask, "wait, how do you already know that about me?"  She pointed out that I had already explored the whole building and then gone outside with a frisbee instead of struggling to get the internet working... I think I'll get along with these people :).

After throwing the frisbee and walking on the beach we went on an excursion to Pablo Neruda's house

Our tour and the museum had very little to do with politics or writing (strange I know)... instead we got to know Neruda as this crazy man with a lot of collections... we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but his house was unbelievable!  He had hundreds of ships in bottles, at least twenty giant figureheads, shelves of tiny instrument models, real instruments, wooden chairs from africa, a giant wall mural made of tiny stones in relief, antique maps, fossils, a shell room with a GIGANTIC narwal horn... the list goes on, it was crazy!  Here are some pics from outside:

So Neruda was obsessed with boats and ocean imagery... but he didn't like sailing himself... so he had a boat but he kept it on land ("soy un hombre de la tierra"- I am a man of the earth) and had drinks in the cabin with his close friends.

I'm near out of pictures now... but on Wednesday we just learned safety and health stuff, walked on the beach, chatted, etc.  We had a traditional Chilean meal last night at a restaurant on the coast and some of us stayed up late next to the fire playing music and singing :).  Oh, and my host dad is aparently a professor of music in Santiago and he has three boys (all my ageish I think or older) and all of them, including the mother, play music and like to festejar (party).  So hurray!  I meet them today.

Last thing, I ran on the beach alone yesterday and with a friend today early in the morning and it was MAGNIFICENT!  The ocean is so beautiful and powerful... it was very inspiring.  The temperature is like late fall in the mountains, a little cold but mostly refreshing and my run included a small adventure to get through a band of rocks the blocked the way (as well as having to jump on the wall to avoid the water once).

I am so excited for the future, although it is already a bit tiring to be constantly around new people and a new language.  Still, every conversation is an adventure and the education policy that we'll be studying is already fascinating to me!